Over Supply...HELP

Hi, I am have a awful time trying to cut back my supply. I feel like I'm going backwards. I was trying to cut out a pumping time while I was at work to leave me with just pumping once and that would be a noon. I bf my daughter around 6-6:30am and then pump at work around noon and bf her again around 7. My right side is doing fine, but my left is engorged and has been since I started this a week ago tomorrow. I just started using cabbage leaves last night and am also drinking sage tea 3x a day. I usually pump 12-15oz in the am after I feed my daughter because she doesnt eat enough to even make me comfortable. I was told to start working on cutting that one down to only pump to where I am comfortable and not empty (like I was doing). I was told to maybe only pump 10oz for a start and work my way down. I started that this morning and by 10:00 I was starting to get uncomfortable so I pumped 1 1/2 oz off both sides just to get some comfort. I was also told that more little pumps or better than emptying your breast. So that's what I am trying to do, but I feel like I'm going backwards because I use to not pump at all except in the am when I was with my daughter now I pumping more. I'm afraid by pumping these little amounts here and there when I need to is just telling my body to make more instead of cut back. True or no??? Anyways.....any other advice that I could try? Anybody ever done this and it helped?

Re: Over Supply...HELP

Hi mama, I agree with you, I wouldn't do multiple little pumps here and there. Here's what I would do: I would go back to feeding your daughter at 6 or 6:30, pump at midday. IF you need to, add in a second pumping session in the afternoon, for the left breast only if you are only having trouble with that side - and here just do enough to relieve engorgement. Then start cutting back on that second pumping session day by day until you can get rid of it. Also, this takes TIME. I'm an oversupply mama too and I've had to be very patient while cutting back on production. But you'll get there eventually!

Re: Over Supply...HELP

Thank you!!! I just was sitting her a little bit ago crying....and said screw this I am going to just feed her like I use to. When I'm home she eats at 7-, 11 and 3 then at 7 before bed. I figured I would still use the cabbage because I do believe I need to cut back. I am never going to use all this milk. So, I hoping the cabbage and the sage things really work. W hen I'm at work like you suggested I will go back to pumping like I was 1130 and 330. But start to slowly pump less and less till the pump is no longer needed. I tried to much I think. I tried to just move my pump from 11:30 to 12:00 and not pump again till she was due to eat at 7. So I was going from 6:30-12:00 pump and from 12:00-7p bf. I just wanted to try and get my pumps gone before May when she will be 1 yr so by the end of June I can start weening her off bfing. I guess I'm just sooo scared of getting mastitis again that I'm not being patient. I was hoping to find someone to talk to that was an over supply mama too because others that you talk to who are not dont really understand. What would you do about the 10-15 oz pumping in the am after bfing her? I was told to start decreasing that one....started this morning and pumped 10oz and cut myself off. Would you do that? Thanks for you input!!

Re: Over Supply...HELP

Yes, I think you can start cutting back on the am pump, then you have your noon pump to "fall back on" if you are still feeling full. But you don't want to do too much at once - so you might want to first target getting rid of the afternoon pumping session, then work on the morning session, while in the meantime trying not to completely drain in the morning. It's easier to get rid of pumping sessions later in the day, because you have less milk then. Keep in mind that there is nothing to stop you from giving your LO EBM out of a sippy cup after she turns one, or you may be able to donate.

Re: Over Supply...HELP

Yes, my plan is to keep her on EBM till the fall from a sippy then transfer her to d milk. I will donate the rest that is left over. Have you ever sold your milk anywhere? I donated 785 oz. last month because I had no more room in our chest freezer, so I wanted to get rid of some. I still have over I'd say 1, 500 oz....I dont mind donating, but a friend said I could sell it.Just wondering if you had ever looked into that since you have an over supply. My daughter will be 1 in May and I'm in the middle of August 2012 milk from the freezer. So that kinda tells you how messed up I am right now with pumping. lol The hospital made a big mistake with me and starting me off pumping every 2 hrs for 20 mins at a time. I had a hell of a time getting rid of all those pumps but somehow did it. Now all I have left is my two at work and the morning one. I can do this. Ha I will start weaning out my 3:00 one beccause you are right you do produce less in afternoon. I read somewhere to use the lowest setting on a pump too. Is that what you do? That may be a problem with me because I have always turned it up full blast. Once again thats what the hospital had me doing....

Re: Over Supply...HELP

No, I've never sold my milk. Hmm, I haven't thought about using a lower setting on the pump, but that actually makes sense, maybe I should try doing that. I hear you on having tons of milk in the freezer - I stopped keeping track when I realized I had enough to take my LO to a year without any more pumping - and here I am three months later still pumping! I am down to one pump per day, though - basically I've gotten to where you're trying to get to, that is, nurse in the morning, midday pump, then nurse when I get home. And I'm not freezing anymore. You'll get there too! Now I just need to figure out how to get rid of this last pump...

Re: Over Supply...HELP

I am using the lower setting on my pump and it's taking forever to get milk out, but I guess that's what it is suppose to do. So you dont freeze your midway pump anymore? Is your baby on solids? If so, if you nurse when you get home does he or she eat solids right after or before? I'm assuming you work a 8-5 or something like that. I was told by her doctor to bf at 6 pump at noon and then have sitters feed her her dinner and I would nurse when I got home at 5-530. So I guess that's an option to cut out a pumping too. Let me know what worked best to get rid of your last pump. I should concentrate more on getting rid of this morning pump before I try the others. The morning is the worst one that I have just thought I'll keep (because it will be very hard). Well I bf for ever.... Not having that would really help with not freezing so much milk. Was your morning your most? If you ever pumped in am after feeding...I just bf her on my left only and i pumped 2 oz off after and she didnt touch my right so I will have to probably pump at least 5. I guess that's way better than 12-15.Thanks for letting me babble to you and your input. Makes me feel better just talking to someone who has the same problem and getting your input on what you did.

Re: Over Supply...HELP

I have oversupply on one side only. I pump about 10-15 ounce more than DD2 eats in 9 hours at daycare. I currently pump after nursing in the morning at 6:15 and get between 5-8 ounces, then pump at 10:30(8oz) and 3:00(8oz) at work, nurse at 6 or 7:00pm, 9:00pm and 2-3:00 am. DD2 spends 10 hours away from me and only eats between 9-15 ounces.

I would highly recommend donating. I've donated 880 ounces to a local 8 month old little boy with a rare genetic disease. It's just a great feeling to have my milk helping another family.

I used the facebook page HM4HB to find a mom in need and also looked at milkshare.

Trying to keep up with a busy 3.5 year old Morgan Alexis born 11/5/09 at 6 lbs 5 oz and proud retired 1 year EP'er!

Re: Over Supply...HELP

That's awesome vtmtbkr!

angied1983: so my schedule used to look like this: BF in the morning at around 7:30 or 8, go to work, pump 12 oz at around 11 am (I use the Medela 5 oz bottles, which have a 6 oz capacity, so I would just stop there whether my breasts were drained or not), pump 10-12 oz around 4 pm, nurse at ~6:30 PM, 8:30 PM, couple times overnight. She was drinking between 15 and 18 oz of EBM while I was at work (which was actually on the high end, but I figured it helped my oversupply to have her drink more during the day and a little less when with me), so typically I was freezing at least 6 oz a day. I did not pump in the morning though I easily could have - I just lived with being full until the 11 am pump. Sometimes this meant I was leaking by the time I got to 11 am! Then in December I started trying to cut back on my supply - but at the same time she cut back a little on how much EBM she was drinking, so I was still freezing! It wasn't a completely organized process because I also had a bunch of stretches where I was working more than usual - so for example I was sometimes missing her morning nursing session - and since I was really busy at work I sort of pushed myself in terms of how much fullness/engorgement I would tolerate. No plugged ducts, though - I'm always really careful about that, and I would have backed down on this if I did have a plugged duct. (I had a plugged duct before I started this process, and I had mastitis with my first baby.) So once I got through that, which was about 6 or 7 weeks, I started consciously trying to reduce my second pumping session. So first to 8 oz, then to 6 oz, then to 4 oz, then to 3 oz, then stopped, and I've been doing just the midday session for at least a couple weeks now. So now my schedule looks like this: nurse in the AM around 7:30, pump around midday (still 11-12 oz), nurse when I get home at 6:30 pm, nurse at 8:30 pm. My baby is now 1 and has been STTN so no nighttime nursing (which I think has also helped with the oversupply problem - I didn't do anything to specifically night wean her, but when she had been consistently STTN for a couple weeks I moved her from my room to her own room). She is drinking 12 oz of EBM while I'm at work so while I haven't tapped into the freezer stash, I'm not freezing anything either. She is eating solids really well. I do nurse when I get home, then we have dinner after that - if she wasn't eating solids well I would probably try to avoid nursing right before solids.

One thing you could do if you want to get rid of the morning pumping session is nurse in the morning, don't pump in the morning, but then do an earlier morning pump at work, try to stretch the time between the morning pump and the afternoon pump, but move your afternoon pump a little earlier if needed. Another thing I've done is take my pump home with me, and if I feel like I'm too full before bed, pump then. Because the thing I hate is going to bed too full and then waking up at night painfully full, you know? Part of my problem cutting back is always that fear of being too full overnight.